A-2 Card Purse Tutorial (holds A-2 cards and envelopes)

How perfect, matching cards and a beautiful bag to present them in. 

I made this purse and five cards with minimal supplies and only one Package of Peaceful Poppies Designer Series Paper (with tons of left-over paper to make many more cards and other projects, I have already made 10 additional cards and a two page scrapbook layout from the leftovers and have more to use).  The best part is that during Sale-A-Bration you can earn free products with each qualifying $50 purchase. 

Here are the instructions (the steps pictured below are from when I previously made one of these bags using some old paper I had in my stash).  You will need to have two-sided paper and at least one other coordinating paper or coordinating cardstock in a solid color.  I used Poppy Parade cardstock for my base as well as the trim around the base of the purse because it coordinated so well with this DSP.

                  

Cutting –  

Cut a piece of Poppy Parade cardstock to 5 x 8”.  Score this piece at 1” on all four sides.  Now cut to the first intersection on the 8” sides and fold and adhere to shape a box.  This is the base for the whole purse.

Next, we are going to cut two pieces of the DSP, the first is cut to 4.5 x 12” and a second is cut to 4.5 x 7” (I did cut my DSP right down the center at 6” to begin with and then trimmed 1” off the bottom and ½” off the top because that gave me the best part of the design for my purse and highlighted the poppies the best).  I then adhere those pieces together, I like to use tear and tape (a heavy duty two sided tape) for assembly so I don’t have to hold it while it is trying to dry (this will be the body of the purse and the back side of it will be the design you see on the inside of the purse, as you can see with mine).  Place score tape (or you can use liquid glue) along the bottom of the side you want to be your inside and up the right side.

Start to adhere to your base (the box you made) place your seams in inconspicuous places if possible, just working your way around.  I often hold mine on its side to make it easier for me to work with.  Just pull a little of the covering of the tape away at a time so you can maintain good control and can keep everything straight and even.  (see below).

Here it is what it looks like when it is adhered all the way around.

Now let’s tackle the straps.  Cut 2 pieces of a coordinating cardstock (I used Blackberry Bliss cardstock for my poppy bag) to 1 x 11" and round the ends (a corner rounder works great) and score at ½” (right down the center of the piece) from one end to the other leaving 1.5” un-scored on each end. 

Glue the scored parts together and shape with a bone folder (just curve them so they don’t dry straight and stiff, this is really important if you are using liquid glue).     

Cut 4 pieces of your second coordinating paper two for the outside and two for the inside each at  ½ x 11” (this is more than you will need but it is easier to work with it long and trim as needed so you can control where you want your seams to end up).  I chose to use the blackberry bliss polka-dot DSP from the Peaceful Poppies pack because it pulled my colors all together.  When I was all done with my bag I went back with a sponge dauber and Highland Heather ink and just inked the edges of the paper where the white showed through.

Cut 2 pieces of paper or cardstock (your choice what you use but it works nice if it is the same as the bottom of the purse so it looks like one piece to ½ x 11” (this will be the bottom trim, this is more than you need but it allows you to control where the seams land).  (I used a scalloped punch on the purse pictured above one but decided to go with a plain straight piece for this one since it is already pretty busy.) Adhere to the bottom of the purse using adhesive (watching those seams again).

Once you have done all this you can put on your straps.  For my Peaceful Poppies purse I glued the straps directly onto the purse and added a large clear faceted gem.  And whalah, you are done!!!  You could add a flower or any other embellishment you like to add additional interest.   

I hope you enjoy this project.  I will also be sharing the five cards we made during this workshop over the next week or so as well as an adorable 2 page scrapbook layout and some other cards using the same package of DSP.  Please drop by and check them out.  I will post the supplies I used for this project below and of course they can all be found on my website at www.craftwithronnie.blogspot.com or by clicking the shopping cart at the top of this blog.

Happy Crafting!!!

Supplies Used:

Peaceful Poppies Designer Series Paper
$11.50

Blackberry Bliss 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock
$8.75

Poppy Parade 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock
$8.75

Clear Faceted Gems
$5.00

Tear & Tape Adhesive
$7.00

Bone Folder
$7.00